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Advert for e-cigarettes to be shown on TV

Sun 13th January, 2013

A commercial for electronic cigarettes will be shown on mainstream British television this weekend.

Cigarette advertising has been banned on British TV since 1965.

“It took us more than a year to get approval for the script,” says Adrian Everett, chief executive of E-Lites. “Because the legislation is rightly so stringent, it’s quite cryptic. We are trying to entertain rather than preach.”

The advert, along with one on satellite channels last week for SkyCig, a rival brand, and others on the internet, comes as the UK government finalises a new regulatory mechanism for nicotine products and broader health guidance on how to reduce the burden of smoking.

The measures are likely to endorse the use of e-cigarettes as a pragmatic approach to “harm reduction” for those addicted to nicotine and unable to quit, while seeking to impose tougher quality controls.

“This is the sort of approach that many people would like because in principle e-cigarettes provide smokers with a dramatically lower hazard alternative,” says Professor John Britton, chair of Royal College of Physicians’ tobacco advisory group.

Smokers’ lobby group Forest has called for amendments to the smoking ban in Scotland ahead of the fifth anniversary of its introduction. The group wants pubs and clubs to have the option of separate, well-ventilated smoking rooms.

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